Prisons becoming 'terror academies' with 1,000 Muslim lags at risk

He claimed entire wings of some Brit jails are already under the control of extremists.

He has complained that a report on how to tackle Islamic fanaticism behind bars is late – and said jails were being turned into "powder kegs” of radicalism.

Lord Falconer accused Justice Secretary Michael Gove of being distracted from dealing with an issue of "national security” by the forthcoming EU referendum.

He said: "Everything about the prisons is going wrong at the moment – assaults by prisoners on prison officers, assaults by prisoners on prisoners, prisoner suicides, incidents where riot squads are required to deal with trouble.”

"We do not want a situation where vulnerable Muslims are being sent to terrorist academies in our high-security prisons without there being a strategy on how to deal with it.”

Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and a senior Home Office official, has produced a report, but publication has been held up.

(dailystar.co.uk)